Weekend forecast: Soggy South, flood worries in Plains

Apr. 26, 2013
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High school students toss sandbags down a line along the Red River on Friday in Fargo, N.D. Hundreds of students pitched in to place 100,000 sandbags around Fargo and help protect homes against Red River flooding. / Dave Kolpack AP

by Doyle Rice, USA TODAY

by Doyle Rice, USA TODAY

The Southeast U.S. is in for a soggy weekend, while the northern Plains deals with river flooding because of snowmelt. Elsewhere, most of the rest of the country should see a rather warm and calm weather weekend.

Sodden South: A slow-moving storm is forecast to dump rain and thunderstorms across the South over the weekend. The heaviest rain on Saturday is likely in Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee, where some severe thunderstorms are also possible. On Sunday, most of the heaviest rain should be in Alabama and Georgia.

Temperatures will remain below average in much of the South and Southeast due to the clouds and rain this weekend.

Warming brings floods: After a seemingly endless stretch of chilly, wintry weather, warm temperatures will finally spread into the northern Plains and Upper Midwest Saturday and Sunday. Highs will soar into the 70s. However, with the warmth will come melting snow, which will raise the risk of river flooding in parts of Minnesota and North Dakota.

Mostly nice elsewhere: A mild, dry weekend is on tap throughout most of the West, Midwest and Northeast. Highs will climb to 5 to 10 degrees above average in much of New York and New England. The one chilly spot Sunday will be the Pacific Northwest coast, where highs will only be in the 50s, with showers possible.